LncRNA HOTAIR Regulates CCND1 and CCND2 Expression by Sponging miR-206 in Ovarian Cancer

Background/Aims: The long noncoding RNA homeobox (HOX) transcript antisense intergenic RNA (HOTAIR) has been demonstrated to be a vital modulator in the proliferation and metastasis of ovarian cancer cells, but its potential molecular mechanism remains to be elucidated. In the current study, we aimed to uncover the biological role of lncRNA HOTAIR and its underlying regulatory mechanism in the progression and metastasis of ovarian cancer. Methods: HOTAIR expression was detected by quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) and northern blotting. The SKOV3 ovarian cancer cell line was chosen for the subsequent assays. In addition, the molecular mRNA and protein expression levels were examined by qRT-PCR and western blotting. The competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) mechanism was validated by bioinformatics analysis and a dual luciferase reporter gene assay. Results: HOTAIR expression was significantly higher in ovarian carcinoma tissues and cell lines than in the control counterparts. Both CCND1 and CCND2 were downstream targets of miR-206. The inhibition of HOTAIR elevated the expression of miR-206 and inhibited the expression of CCND1 and CCND2. Moreover, CCND1 and CCND2 were highly expressed in ovarian cancer tissues, and their expression was positively correlated with HOTAIR expression. Finally, the functional assays indicated that the anticancer effects of miR-206 could be rescued by the simultaneous overexpression of either CCND1 or CCND2 in ovarian cancer. Conclusion: HOTAIR enhanced CCND1 and CCND2 expression by negatively modulating miR-206 expression and stimulating the proliferation, cell cycle progression, migration and invasion of ovarian cancer cells

Charge Measurement of Cosmic Ray Nuclei with the Plastic Scintillator Detector of DAMPE

One of the main purposes of the DArk Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) is to measure the cosmic ray nuclei up to several tens of TeV or beyond, whose origin and propagation remains a hot topic in astrophysics. The Plastic Scintillator Detector (PSD) on top of DAMPE is designed to measure the charges of cosmic ray nuclei from H to Fe and serves as a veto detector for discriminating gamma-rays from charged particles. We propose in this paper a charge reconstruction procedure to optimize the PSD performance in charge measurement. Essentials of our approach, including track finding, alignment of PSD, light attenuation correction, quenching and equalization correction are described detailedly in this paper after a brief description of the structure and operational principle of the PSD. Our results show that the PSD works very well and almost all the elements in cosmic rays from H to Fe are clearly identified in the charge spectrum.Comment: 20 pages, 4 figure

Diverse genetic mechanisms underlie worldwide convergent rice feralization

Background: Worldwide feralization of crop species into agricultural weeds threatens global food security. Weedy rice is a feral form of rice that infests paddies worldwide and aggressively outcompetes cultivated varieties. Despite increasing attention in recent years, a comprehensive understanding of the origins of weedy crop relatives and how a universal feralization process acts at the genomic and molecular level to allow the rapid adaptation to weediness are still yet to be explored. Results: We use whole-genome sequencing to examine the origin and adaptation of 524 global weedy rice samples representing all major regions of rice cultivation. Weed populations have evolved multiple times from cultivated rice, and a strikingly high proportion of contemporary Asian weed strains can be traced to a few Green Revolution cultivars that were widely grown in the late twentieth century. Latin American weedy rice stands out in having originated through extensive hybridization. Selection scans indicate that most genomic regions underlying weedy adaptations do not overlap with domestication targets of selection, suggesting that feralization occurs largely through changes at loci unrelated to domestication. Conclusions: This is the first investigation to provide detailed genomic characterizations of weedy rice on a global scale, and the results reveal diverse genetic mechanisms underlying worldwide convergent rice feralization

Internal accuracy analysis of fixed-point deformation observation data of Wuzhishan deformation station

This paper presents a statistical analysis of the internal accuracy of the fixed-point deformation observation data of Wuzhishan deformation station from January 2016 to December 2021. The internal accuracy of the station’s water pipe tiltmeter and indium tile rod extensometer is good. The probability that the internal accuracy of the two components of the broadband tiltmeter reaches the excellent index is only 50%. Since January 2020, the internal accuracy quality of the observation data has been decreasing, resulting in the low quality of the observation data. The important condition for improving the internal accuracy quality of data is to ensure the continuous rate of observation data. Therefore, it is urgent to improve the operational level of station personnel and to ensure the necessary spare parts

Comparative pharmacokinetics of zolpidem tartrate in five ethnic populations of China

The objective of this study was to evaluate the difference in the pharmacokinetics of zolpidem tatrate in subjects from five Chinese ethnicities (Han, Mongolian, Uigur, Korean and Hui). Healthy subjects (10 Hans, 10 Mongolians, 10 Uigurs, 10 Koreans and 9 Huis) were recruited and each received a 10 mg tablet-dose of zolpidem tatrate. A total of 12 plasma samples were collected over a 12 h period after administration. The concentrations of zolpidem in plasma were determined by an HPLC-FLU method, after which the pharmacokinetic parameters were determined using DAS 2.0 software and analyzed by SPSS 16.0 software. After normalization by weight, no differences were noted in the pharmacokinetic parameters of zolpidem tatrate among the five ethnic groups (P>0.05). However, there were statistically significant differences between males and females for the pharmacokinetic parameters (P<0.05). The metabolism of zolpidem tatrate in males was faster than in females. Results indicate that ethnicity has no significant impact on the pharmacokinetics of zolpidem tatrate after a single oral dose in healthy Chinese subjects. However, an effect of gender on the pharmacokinetics of zolpidem tatrate can be noted

New Predictor of Organ Failure in Acute Pancreatitis: CD4+ T Lymphocytes and CD19+ B Lymphocytes

Objective. Lymphocytes are one of the main effector cells in the inflammatory response of acute pancreatitis (AP). The purpose of the study was to evaluate whether peripheral blood lymphocyte (PBL) subsets at admission change during AP based on clinical outcomes and to explore whether these changes vary by aetiology of AP. Hence, we performed a prospective study to find a predictor in lymphocyte subsets that might allow easier, earlier, and more accurate prediction of clinical outcomes. Methods. Patients with AP were enrolled from December 2017 to June 2018 at the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University. Age, sex, clinical and biochemical parameters, and aetiology of AP were obtained at admission. PBL counts were assessed within 24 hours after admission. Clinical outcomes were observed as endpoints. The areas under the curve (AUCs) of different predictors were calculated using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Results. Overall, 133 patients were included. Patients (n=24) with organ failure (OF) had significantly lower CD4+ T lymphocyte levels than those (n=109) with No OF (NOF) (39.60 (33.94-46.13) vs. 32.41 (26.51-38.00), P=0.004). The OF group exhibited significantly higher CD19+ B lymphocytes than the NOF group (16.07 (10.67-21.06) vs. 23.78 (17.84-29.45), P=0.001). Of the AP cases, 68.8% were caused by gallstones; 10.1% were attributed to alcohol; 16.5% were due to hyperlipidaemia; and 4.6% had other causes. Across all aetiologies, a lower CD4+ T lymphocyte level was significantly related to OF (P<0.05). However, CD19+ B lymphocytes were significant only in gallstone pancreatitis (P<0.05). The ROC curve results showed that the AUC values of CD4+T lymphocytes, CD19+ B lymphocytes, and combined CD4+T lymphocytes and CD19+ B lymphocytes were similar to those of traditional scoring systems, such as APACHEII and Ranson. Conclusions. CD4+ T and CD19+ B lymphocytes during the early phase of AP can predict OF

Contamination of drinking water by neonicotinoid insecticides in China: Human exposure potential through drinking water consumption and percutaneous penetration

Neonicotinoids (NEOs) are the most widely used pesticides and have posed a serious threat to human health. However, data on human exposure to NEOs are extremely scarce. To bridge this gap, human exposure potential of NEOs through drinking water consumption and percutaneous penetration was evaluated with the influences of 17 age groups, 4 seasons, 6 regions, and 2 genders. The results showed that drinking water in the present study had an upper middle level of NEO contamination. Anthropogenic activity and weather condition played important roles in the regional distribution of NEOs in tap water. For both children and adults, NEOs intake from drinking water exposure (NDE) and percutaneous exposure (NPE) in the south regions of China are significantly higher than those in the north regions, while the order of NDE and NPE by season is summer > spring = autumn > winter. Furthermore, human age and gender also have remarkable impacts on NDE and NPE. The age groups of children subjected to the highest NDE and NPE were 9 months – 2 years old and 9–12 years old, respectively. This study provides insights into the role of seasonal and regional influence, age and gender in the risk of drinking water and percutaneous exposure to NEOs

Expression and prognostic value of cell-cycle-associated genes in gastric adenocarcinoma

Abstract Background Gastric carcinoma is a malignant disease, and gastric adenocarcinoma (GAC) is the most common histological type. Molecular profiling of GAC has been extensively performed, but few have focused on the clinical significance of gene clusters of the cell cycle. Methods We investigated the genetic profile of cell-cycle-associated genes in a GAC cohort. The mRNA expression and clinical data were downloaded from TCGA, according to cBioportal. We conducted a series of analyses to detect the relationships between these genes and GAC. Results From all the patients, 5 clusters were identified based on mRNA expression of 122 cell-cycle-associated genes. Cluster 1 showed the worst prognosis and is characterized by extremely high expression of WEE2 and CCNE1. Comparison of the gene patterns showed that 16 genes expressed were distinctly varied between each cluster. In addition, investigations into the prognostic role of the 16 genes suggested that high expression of ESPL1 and MCM5 were significantly correlated with favorable outcomes. Moreover, we detected that ESPL1 and MCM5 gene expression were negatively correlated with GAC pathologic stage progression. Conclusions This study revealed a gene expression pattern of the cell cycle in different GAC subgroups, and suggested individual genes were associated with the clinical outcome and AJCC stages. These results suggest a novel prognostic strategy for GAC and provide information for patient stratification and trials of targeted therapies